The Golden Goggle Awards are USA Swimming’s yearly awards gala, and they’ll happen tonight in New York City. You can follow along on the USA Swimming website, which will livestream the event. Follow the link here.

Swimming outside on a sunny day should be thrilling—but too often it’s frustrating. On clear days, the sun can be blindingly strong, and your traditional goggles, even with UV Protection, can add extra stress if you have to pause to clean them, dump water out, and adjust for comfort.

Preview | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3
Not surprisingly, the Arena Elite team jumped out to a bit of a lead after one day at the Speedo-Arena Sponsor ‘Ship. While the men’s squads were about even, as expected, the Arena women have thus far overwhelmed the Speedo women. Event wins were split evenly down the middle, with both teams taking exactly 7 victories.

But Michael Phelps will swim his first (and second) individual events on day 2 of the competition, which should be inspirational for Team Speedo. With only 1 race under 200 yards on day 2, Team Arena, who has heavy weight in the sprint events, could get a little nervous today. The best showdown of the day will be the 800 free that will feature Rebecca Adlington, Kate Ziegler, and Lotte Friis, who are 3 of the best in the world.

While day 1 was Brett Hawke’s day, day 2 is loaded with events that Team Speedo coach Bob Bowman loves coaching: The 200 free, the 400 IM, the 200 fly, anything with Michael Phelps in it…start to finish this will be his day.

16. Women’s 200 freestyle1. Dana Vollmer (Speedo)
2. Silke Lippok (Arena Fed)
3. Katie Hoff (Speedo)
4. Sarah Sjostrom (Arena)
5. Ellen Fullerton (Speedo)
6. Fran Halsall (Arena)
Braden- Vollmer had her first good 200 free swim of 2011 to win this race. The 17-year old Lippok introduced herself to much of the world with this 2nd-place finish, though the veteran Hoff almost nipped her at the wall. Sjostrom stretched a little longer than she usually prefers in this race, but was good enough for 4th place. A 5th from Speedo’s Ellen Fullerton was just enough to put Speedo the closest that it’s been since the score was 0-0.Team Scores after Event 16: Arena 177, Speedo 177

17. Men’s 100 breaststroke1. Kosuke Kitajima (Speedo Fed)
2. Alexander Dale Oen (Arena)
3. Cameron van der Burgh (Arena)
4. Eric Shanteau (Arena)
5. Fabio Scozzoli (Speedo)
6. Eric Friedland (Speedo College)
Braden- This was a great race at the top, and Kitajima and Dale Oen were stroke-for-stroke the whole race. At the touch, a great finish just barely gave Kitajima the edge. Van der Burgh never quite challenged the top two, but was pushed by hard by his Arena teammate Eric Shanteau, who has clearly benefited from his time spent in Southern California with Dave Salo.Team Scores after Event 17: Arena 189, Speedo 187

18. Women’s 100 breaststroke
1. Rebecca Soni (Arena)
2. Leisel Jones (Speedo)
3. Sarah Katsoulis (Speedo Fed)
4. Jessica Hardy (Speedo)
5. Suzaan van Biljon (Arena)
6. Micah Lawrence (Arena College)
Braden- As she has done frequently over the past couple of years, Rebecca Soni dominated this race. Leisel Jones was still the 2nd-best in this race, though her teammate Sarah Katsoulis is coming on strong (and by London, could have overtaken that throne). Hardy doesn’t focus too hard on these breaststrokes in her training anymore, but still held off Suzaan van Biljon, who recently returned from a 2-year hiatus.Team Scores after Event 18: Arena 199, Speedo 199

19. Men’s 400IM
1. Ryan Lochte (Speedo)
2. Tyler Clary (Speedo)
3. Laslo Cseh (Arena)
4. Thiago Pereira (Speedo Fed)
5. Ous Mellouli (Arena)
6. Mads Glaesner (Arena)
Reezy- Its interesting to see the dynamic between Lochte and Clary. Its very reminiscent of the battles that Ryan and Phelps have had over the past 5 years. Ryan Lochte is finally top-dog in this event, but the question remains- can he get close to the world record. We hope so, but its going to be a tough one. That record could stand for a long time. Its has been great to watch Clary storm into the international scene in the last 16 months; just beating out Cseh who has been fighting for second and third places for years. I think everyone was hoping for a better showing by Ous, though 5th against a field like this is not bad. It will be interesting to see if he keeps this event on his schedule moving forward. The 1-2 finish gave Speedo its first lead of the meet.Team Scores after Event 19: Arena 205, Speedo 215

20. Women’s 400IM
1.Hannah Miley (Arena)
2.Elizabeth Beisel (Speedo College)
3.Katinka Hosszu (Arena Fed)
4.Stephanie Rice (Speedo)
5.Katie Hoff (Speedo)
6.Julia Smitt (Arena)
Reezy- Arena’s Hannah Miley took a half body-length lead with her first leg of the IM. We thought this was going to be closer once Beisel turned and powered ahead on the backstrocke but Miley’s strokes just got stronger and stronger and when they turned for home she was almost a full body length ahead. Hosszu was not far behind Beisel and almost caught her in the end, in a reversal of their NCAA finish. She continues to surge up the ranks of swimming elite. Rice and Hoff round out one of the most talented group of swimmers in this meet. These five ladies all beat out the current SC WR holder, Julia Smit.Team Scores after Event 20: Arena 217, Speedo 225

21. Men’s 200 Back
1.Ryan Lochte (Speedo)
2.Tyler Clary (Speedo)
3.Aaron Piersol (Arena)
4.Stanislav Donets (Arena Fed)
5.Marco Loughran (Speedo College)
6.Daniel Bell (Arena Fed)
Reezy- The Men’s 200m back featured both seasoned veterans and up-and-comers. The field was dominated by Speedo’s Ryan Lochte and Tyler Clary who claim the top two spots. Arena’s Piersol and Donets were almost 2 seconds behind the top finishers. This event goes back and forth between Speedo and Arena with the top dogs being Lochte and Piersol. Team Speedo takes this event with Loughran rounding out the top five.Team Scores after Event 21: Arena 224, Speedo 240

22. Women’s 200 Back
1.Kristy Coventry (Arena)
2.Elizabeth Beisel (Speedo College)
3.Emily Seebohm (Arena)
4.Teresa Crippen (Speedo College)
5.Ellen Fullerton (Speedo)
6.Julia Smit (Arena)
Reezy- This could be the race of the meet; young vs old- the seasoned champion Kristy Coventry and ever persistent Elizabeth Beisel. The first leg was all Coventry but Beisel built her fifty’s and as they came home we weren’t sure who was going to win. With 25 meters to go Coventry’s experience showed, and she really put her kick into it and with a final lunge she over took the title. Arena’s Seebohm continued her momentum from the 2010 Pan Pacs into third place with Speedo’s Crippen and Fullerton finishing up in the top five: six seconds behind the top spot.Team Scores after Event 22: Arena 236, Speedo 250

23. Men’s 200 Fly
1.Michael Phelps (Speedo)
2.Pawel Korzeniowski (Arena)
3.Tyler Clary (Speedo)
4.Laslo Cseh (Arena)
5.Thiago Pereira (Speedo)
6.Milorad Cavic (Arena)
Reezy- Long live the King!!! Michael Phelps, the world’s best for so many years, takes another title home for Team Speedo with almost a second win over Arena’s Korzeniowski. Pawel nearly beats Clary, who is arguably the third best swimmer in the world right now, and Cseh once again cruises into fourth place. Pereira closes out the top five for this field to score points for the 2nd time on the day. Cavic is a great sprinter, but rarely competes in this 200 fly.Team Scores after Event 23: Arena 244, Speedo 264

24. Women’s 200fly
1.Jiao Liuyang (Speedo Fed)
2.Katinka Hosszu (Arena College)
3.Teresa Crippen (Speedo College)
4.Jemma Lowe (Speedo Fed)
5.Hannah Miley (Arena)
6.Inge Dekker (Arena)
Reezy- When given a chance to see Jiao Liuyang swim, she rarely disappoints. We were surprised when China sent Jiao to this meet since they typically only go to a few big meets each year, but she dominated this event. Housszu continues to show that she is not only fast, but versitile with this second place finish. Teresa Crippen has surged onto the scene the past year, telling the world that she is gunning for gold come London. We were sure what to ecpect from Jemma Lowe during this meet, her time was good and she excelled in her start and turns but lost steam in the end. Hannah Miley and Dekker who is a fly and free sprint specialist rounded out the bottom two.Team Scores after Event 24: Arena 251, Speedo 279

25. Men’s 800 free relay
1. Speedo A (Ryan Lochte, Michael Phelps, Peter Vanderkaay, Tae-Hwan Park)
2. Arena A (Paul Biedermann, Alain Bernard, Pawel Korzeniowski, Ous Mellouli)
3. Speedo B (Filippo Magnini, Brent Hayden, Eamon Sullivan, Ryan Cochrane)
4. Arena B (Laszlo Cseh, Mads Glaesner, Adam Brown, Mads Glaesner)
Braden- The Speedo A relay was absolutely dominant in this race. They put together 4 swimmers who are probably in the top 11 or 12 in HISTORY, and are 4 out of the 6 or so best in the world right now. They won this race by nearly half a pool length, and then showed their depth when the B almost knocked off Arena’s A. A great leadoff by Biedermann gave the Three-Diamonds just enough to hold them off for 2nd. The Arena B wasn’t a bad relay, but they were just overmatched by the quality of Speedo. Hawke gave his Auburn swimmer Adam Brown his first action of the meet in this race.Team Scores after Event 25: Arena 258, Speedo 295

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I’m going to be the first to respond 🙂 The 200 Free.. After what happened in Rome, I can not see Phelps coming in 3rd in this event.. I know it wasn’t a complete showdown because we couldn’t have Lochte in there.. This could easily be one of the best races.. Phelps, Park, Biedermann and Lochte .. are the top 4 swmmers in the world in this event.. lets discuss…

Reezy- Agree that this would be a great race in real life, especially if you could add Lochte to the mix. I don’t know where to place Phelps in it right now. In his “time away” from hard training, it just seems like park, Lochte, et al have really sort of closed the gap on him, and Biedermann knocked him off in this in 2009 (though it was a suited race). How about another one that I know we debated over long and hard: the women’s 200 back? Coventry absolutely dominated this race from 2005-2009, but even in 2009 (the last time she trained seriously), Beisel et al. made a serious challenge to her crown. What do you think would… Read more »

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7 years ago

roger

Is it just me, or is this one of the most creative and most awesome ways to hold a meet? How has NBC or ESPN not bought the rights to televise this (or maybe they have)? Any meet out there is either a national meet (representing your club team in the USA) or international meet (representing your country against others in the world) but I have never seen a meet where you represent your swimsuit!!! Phelps teaming up Tae-Hwan Park, going AGAINST a relay with Paul Beidermann and Alain Bernard? This is an incredible idea! I think Team Speedo is too strong for Arena, but what if Phelps were on Speedo and Lochte was on Arena? That’d make for a… Read more »

Thanks roger, appreciate the compliment! I have discussed it before, and many other agree, that team swimming and dual meets are the way that our sport is going to be taken to the next level in terms of popularity, and we thought that a “suit vs. suit” battle is one of a few different ways that you could split swimmers up and make for some great dynamics and incredible competitiveness.

Roger, having this type of event in “real life” would be amazing. I wish someone would pick it up. Seeing athletes from different country’s all working together.. it would be so much fun to watch. We were beyond excited to do this with SwimmersCircle- its been a fun week. The 200 Free; yes I do agree Lochte, Park et al, have improved significantly and have even surprased Phelps in 2010. I am unfortunatley not a fan of Paul Biedermann and I can’t shake this feeling that he is a suite swimmer. I can not wait until Shanghi to see what he does. Its going to be a Lochte, Phelps, Park, Biedermann dog fight.. Oh yes the Women’s 200 back: Coventry… Read more »

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7 years ago

About Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder of SwimSwam.com.
He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming.
Aside from his life on the InterWet, …